harvard

[redspell]

and no not the school...
has anyone out there even heard of harvard speakers? a goodwill nearby has got a pair. they look to be rather finely crafted. bookshelf size. any and all searches on google only turn up, yep, speakers that graduated or have spoken at that institution of higher learning.

 

[judgeschreber]

Julius Futterman was associated with a company called Harvard Electronics, where he built some very high-end OTL tube amps.

I have no ideas if they did speakers as well, but that's the only Harvard I know of for audio gear.

 

[veloceleste]

I believe Harvard speakers were a house brand for Silo--a defunct mid-Alantic appliance/electronics chain.

 

[Nat]

I'm with the housebrand suggester.

 

[whyaskit]

First pair of speakers were Harvard, got them at Silo. Good memories, thats about it. The sounds was fair at best.

 

[TOO LOUD???]

Yep Silo Electronics housebrand, a friend has a pair of 3 way floor standers not bad sounding. His kids blew the woofers I replaced/upgraded them and recapped the x-over such as it is, sound much better now, decently built cabinets heavy mdf.

 

[squirps]

Re: Harvard Speakers

Hello All,
I am brand new to this forum, and I know this reply is years late, but I hope this info will help in the future. Harvard speakers were NOT a Silo in house brand. Yes, they were sold there, but the pair I have to this day were purchased through Wall to Wall Sound. These were top of the line speakers in their day, and quite expensive with (at least my pair) having a 20-20,000 frequency response and some very heavy magnets to handle the power of the receivers at the time. My late brother actually cracked the plaster downstairs from the bass. My brother was a major audiophile, and researched every component carefully. He decided on the Harvard speakers, and they are still the best sounding speakers in terms of reproduction quality to this day. If anyone ever finds these for sale at a resonable price, grab them. The only drawback is the same for all old speakers: the foam surrounds for the woofer dry out and need to be replaced. But this is a simple fix by ordering new foam from any number of sources on the web and doing the repair yourself. It's very easy. Hope this helps.

 

[terpodion]

Well there is a pair of 3 ways with 10" woofers on eBay. That's how I found this thread - and several sites about commencement speakers at Harvard U.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/HARVARD-VIN...pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item232c81d57d
They look kind of cheapo but you can't always go by looks - no shots of the interior. They are no where near the old territory of Silo (yes I remember Silo) - Las Vegas. I'll take your word that they are quality speakers but there is no way I'm paying $120 to ship them here to Silo country. I have too many speakers anyway.

 

[Nat]

I think Silos were more widespread than Los Vegas -- there was a very good one in Ardmore PA, on the mainline outside of Philadelphia. Bought my Fried Qs there in 1976, I think.

 

[Altec Best]

Hello All,
I am brand new to this forum, and I know this reply is years late, but I hope this info will help in the future. Harvard speakers were NOT a Silo in house brand. Yes, they were sold there, but the pair I have to this day were purchased through Wall to Wall Sound. These were top of the line speakers in their day, and quite expensive with (at least my pair) having a 20-20,000 frequency response and some very heavy magnets to handle the power of the receivers at the time. My late brother actually cracked the plaster downstairs from the bass. My brother was a major audiophile, and researched every component carefully. He decided on the Harvard speakers, and they are still the best sounding speakers in terms of reproduction quality to this day. If anyone ever finds these for sale at a resonable price, grab them. The only drawback is the same for all old speakers: the foam surrounds for the woofer dry out and need to be replaced. But this is a simple fix by ordering new foam from any number of sources on the web and doing the repair yourself. It's very easy. Hope this helps.

I have a pair of Harvards still from 1977.. They were decent sounding for their cost.But disagree about heavy magnets they actually came with Micro magnets...I have the largest ones they made and yes bought them at Silo in New Jersey.Mine have 12" woofers a 5" mid and 3" dome tweeter.. I can post some pictures of the cabs if you like.. But the woofers need to refoamed and never got around to them since i have mostly Altec gear now.. But I'm a speaker whore so i couldn't get rid of them since they were my first pair of speakers ever..

I powered them with my Technics receiver of the day SA-700.I also had a smaller pair of Harvards that I had stacked. They did sound nice at the time.

Here are the woofers from them.. As you can see they look kind of like Cheapo's !!! They are air suspension 25Hz-20Khz Frequency Response rated 3-ways.They measure 26.25" high and 15.5" wide.

 

[Nat]

Of course, size (and more important) size of magnet is one of the variables that speaker designers use to optimize a design for size, loading, and cost. So a small magnet may actually be entirely appropriate, and a larger one would be worse.
No saying that that is necessarily the case here, of course.

 

[Altec Best]

If you can grab them for a few bucks give them a whirl...

 

[Copa1934]

and no not the school...
has anyone out there even heard of harvard speakers? a goodwill nearby has got a pair. they look to be rather finely crafted. bookshelf size. any and all searches on google only turn up, yep, speakers that graduated or have spoken at that institution of higher learning.

Has anyone given thought to the possibility that "Harvard" speakers could have been "made to order", i.e. a branded type speaker that could be built to the "retailer" specs? I haven't seen anything, so far, in this thread where actual "model" numbers are posted along with respective drivers. That likely could clear up any discrepancy in perceived quality of this "brand" of speaker.

 

[Altec Best]

Has anyone given thought to the possibility that "Harvard" speakers could have been "made to order", i.e. a branded type speaker that could be built to the "retailer" specs? I haven't seen anything, so far, in this thread where actual "model" numbers are posted along with respective drivers. That likely could clear up any discrepancy in perceived quality of this "brand" of speaker.

Mine are Harvard Model# 3120.. It's time to send them to the landfill I think... Need room for some Altecs !

 

[Michael Hugh]

Mine are Harvard Model# 3120.. It's time to send them to the landfill I think... Need room for some Altecs !

I have some Harvard 2000 speakers that sound good despite needing to be refoamed.

 

[Nat]

They look rather Beckerish to me. It occurs to me that I've seen a low end reciever with the Harvard name on it. Easy to mix up with the Cambridge brand of low end electronics which I think Tech HiFi may have sold.

 

[Ds2000]

For use with Yale receivers and Cornell speaker wire. Collect the whole ivy league!

 

[bubbajack80]

From the pics these look to be in excellent shape. I’m not sure how they sound but 36# isn’t a slouch.

 

[goodolpg]

Has anyone given thought to the possibility that "Harvard" speakers could have been "made to order", i.e. a branded type speaker that could be built to the "retailer" specs? I haven't seen anything, so far, in this thread where actual "model" numbers are posted along with respective drivers. That likely could clear up any discrepancy in perceived quality of this "brand" of speaker.

Commonly called store brand I believe.